No Reason to Stay
by SeventhSwordman
Summary: An unrequited love has grown between Naruto and Hinata. Circumstances change,leaving no reason for him to stay,Naruto is forced to leave the village and the girl with white eyes. When Naruto returns, how will he come back? Happy, or vengeful. NaruxHina
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO

Naruto POV

It's Monday again, yet another boring day at the academy. I wonder why they scold me all the time for not doing well in class. I mean, the first good grade I got, I got in trouble for cheating, I mean, what's the incentive, get scolded on both sides of the spectrum?

Oh well, I guess that's what I'll have to live with. That as well as those spooky dreams with the gigantic zoo and the mean fox, always making jokes about me. It's not funny. Damn subconscious, everyone seems to poke fun at me, even my own self, if I interpreted that dream right.

Class is starting. Hey wait, where's the girl with those pretty white eyes? Where's Hinata?

Hinata POV

Oh no, I'm late. If tou-sama finds out about this, he's gonna kill me. Must not be late, must not be late!

CRASH DING

Yes! Barely made it. Oh geez, everyone's laughing at me. What the, whose hands are those?

AH! It's Naruto-Kun!!

"Are you okay?"

He asked me if I'm okay! What should I say? If I say yes, maybe he'll walk away. If I say no though, he might walk me to my sea-

"NARUTO! GET AWAY FROM HER!"

"YES, SENSEI!"

Damn sensei! Naruto-kun's gone now. Now he won't walk me to my seat.

"Hinata, are you okay?" sensei asked, while giving an occasional accusatory glance at Naruto, who was staring out the window now, head supported by his arm. He looks so cute that way.

"I'm fine," I said, walking to my seat next to Sakura. I was so jealous of her; she always had Naruto staring at her in class. If only he looked at me like that….

Naruto POV

Damn sensei, this stuff's pointless. I already know about the fucking Third Shinobi War. I looked down out the piece of paper I had torn from my notebook, which had written on it, _Why do we need to learn this crap?_ I slid it over to Sasuke. I watched as my best friend read it over and flipped it over and scribbled on the back. He slid it back to me.

_Just deal with it like the rest of us._

I wish I could. OW! Damn eraser.

"Naruto! Passing notes in class are we? See me after class!"

Of course I was the only one in trouble. Sasuke shot me an apologetic glance, I flicked my hand, indicating it was no problem. I resorted to staring at Hinata take down notes. Damn sensei, I was about to walk her to her seat. But to no avail. I always thought she was cute. All the adults seem so adverse to me even talking to her. She looked so pretty as she combed back her bangs behind her left ear. Oh crap! She saw me staring! Hide blush and look away, hide blush and look away.

Hinata POV

There he goes staring at Sakura again. Everyone knows she and half the class adore Sasuke, but he still goes after her. I wonder why everyone always messes with him? The kids always make fun of him and tease him when he's not hanging out with Sasuke, Shikamaru, Choji, or Kiba. The girls always seem to tease him too, even though I don't know what about because they always shut up when they see me. Probably not to make offense to the Hyuuga Heiress. Sometimes I just wanna punch them all to make them stop.

Naruto POV

Later that day

"Haru, Haru Kataaaaanaaaaaa," I sang as I walked back home. I noticed that there was no one messing with me today, at least this balances out the rest of my crappy day. Hey, is that Hinata on that bench? It is! I began running torwards until I saw a black blur and was thrown back a couple of feet.

"You are to say Hinata-sama, demon brat,"said two cold, unforgiving white eyes. Probably a Hyuuga branch member. But he said demon-brat. Why does every adult outside of school say that.

"Why?" I asked, "I just want to talk to her."

"She'd never want to talk to the likes of you."

"But-"

"Go away, before I decide to kill you."

Those cold eyes I looked into ensured me it wasn't an empty threat. He really meant it. He would kill me.

I scrambled up and turned around, running as fast as I could from those scary eyes. My tears fell to the ground as I ran away for dear life.

The next week

I sat on the usual spot, waiting for the guys to show up. I looked up to see Sasuke, Kiba, and Choji walking towards me, depressed looks on their faces.

"Hey guys! Watcha wanna do today."

"Naruto," Kiba said, looking at me in the eyes, with a sad look upon his face. Akamaru even seemed to be pouting.

"Naruto, our parents told us we couldn't hang out with you anymore,"Choji said, holding his bag of potato chips to the side, unopened.

"You're kidding, right?" I begged, wishing that it wasn't true. What did everyone have against me? I haven't even met their parents before.

"We're sorry, Naruto, but we have to leave,"Sasuke said, withour looking up. The three of them turned and walked away. I sat there frozen, holding the tears back. They turned the corner and disappeared. I saw Shikamaru appear from the street on the right. I didn't even bother to look up at him.

"Did your parents say not to hang around me too?" I said, knowing the answer already.

"Yes," he said, causing me to lower my head.

"But," he continued, "I think it's be too troublesome to find a new place to sit. Besides, statistically speaking, my mother's right about 50% of the time. I'm taking this as a wrong."

I stood up and smiled.

"Thanks Shikamaru," I said, turning to walk away.

"Where are ya goin'?" he asked.

"I don't know, but thanks Shikamaru," I said as I walked away. I realized now there was no point in me staying. Most of my friends were ordered to stay away from. The girl I liked, I probably had no chance with, probably didn't even know I existed. And even if I did have a chance, her clan would make sure that I was killed before I even got to say hi. My grades in school meant nothing if I was reprimanded for succeeding. The only teacher that never tried stunting my growth was Iruka-sensei, but I wouldn't see him again until the last year in the Academy, which was to long away. I sighed. I had no more reason to really stay here. I circumnavigated the park today, making sure that I wouldn't at least inconvenience her by my presence. By the time I reached home, it was nightfall. I opened the door and looked inside.

Old ramen packages and cups, a barely functioning microwave, open scrolls, and a worn mattress adorned the ground. I sighed as I pulled up the mattress and pulled out the little money I had scrounged up and hadn't used on the bare necessities, aka: ramen, mattress, microwave, and school supplies. Barely one hundred dollars (I'll use dollar cuz I'm not sure if the Naruto universe uses yen, and I don't know the conversion if they do.) Guess I'll have to make due. I went to my closet and grabbed my other orange jumpsuit, identical to the one I was already wearing. I disliked it. I loved orange, but in such abundance, it grew distasteful. But it was the only thing that the bargain store had let me buy a year ago. Until of course someone from the village actually started working there. They both stunk, both having being washed only in the river, which only succeeded in making them wet and fade when I left them to dry in the sun. I grabbed and old bag from the closet and stuck the jumpsuit, as well as a blanket, some ramen, and the money, into the bag. I decided that it'd be easier to avoid people if I jumped along the rooftops. Besides, no ninja would try to stop ME from leaving, they'd probably point me to a faster route if anything.

Kakashi POV

I looked up from my novel as I noticed a strange orange blur pass by. I looked closer and noticed it was that Naruto kid that sensei sealed the Kyuubi in. He's pretty fast for an academy student, above average chuunin speed. I wonder why he has that bag. Hm, probably a camping trip. I shrugged it off as I continued to read and let the blush return to my face.

_Liza, I can't let you go. I must…… _

Naruto POV

I reached the main gate. I noticed Chuunin guards were watching the gate. They probably wouldn't mind. I sped past them and leaped into the trees as I cleared the gate.

"Good riddance," I heard one mumble.

Iruka POV

"Anything happen?" I asked as I adjusted my pants, returning from a quick bathroom break.

"Just the demon brat leaving the village," said Mizuki.

Demon brat? I thought, then it dawned on me.

"Naruto?!?"

"Just when you left to take a shit. So 'bout ten-twelve minutes."

_Naruto….._

Naruto POV

I ran as fast as I could. No one probably really cared though. Except maybe the old man and Iruka-sensei. Most likely, they wouldn't find out about it until a week later. I began to lose myself in my thoughts when I slipped and fell, right into the face of big fuzzy eyebrows. When I got up, I noticed right away that a mess of green spandex, furry caterpillars, which turned out to be eyebrows, and a black bowl haircut, was lying in front of me. The man looked up at me in a daze and I was about to apologize when I noticed he wore a jounin vest and a Konoha hitai-ate around his waist. I stumbled backwards, and then leaped into the trees, leaving the dazed man to reorient himself.

Gai POV

Who was that? Ow, my head hurts. Whisker marks, orange, blonde hair, orange, blue eyes, orange…

Haha! It must be the legendary orange yellow, blue-eyed fox! No wonder why it was so fast!

Naruto POV

I hope he doesn't chase after me. It's getting bright; maybe I should stop and rest for the rest of the night. I landed in a clearing and lied down next to the base of a tree. I took my blanket out and wrapped it around me, using my bag as a pillow. I drifted off to sleep under the moonlight and the rising sun.

Jiraiya POV

I wonder who's behind the attacks on the five-tails jinchuuriki. Could it be Orochimaru, he seems like someone who would do that. But why the five-tails? The Nine-tails jinchuuriki is in Konoha and is only, um, 12 or 13. It would be fairly easy to capture him. Wait a sec, is that a kid?

I jumped down from the tree I had stopped in and went to observe the kid.

Maybe he's homeless. But why would he be so far from any city. He must be from Konoha, seeing how it's the closest. The kid turned over, revealing his face to me. Blonde hair, whisker marks.

I was taken aback. I laughed to myself silently. He is the spitting image of his father. But what's he doing here? Was he kicked out? No, Sarutobi-sensei would never allow for that, even if the entire council said yes. He'd come up with something. Then he must've run away. Is it that terrible there?

I looked up at the sky and noticed it was almost morning. I guess I'll wait till he wakes up….

Hinata POV

Two Days Since Naruto Left

Where's Naruto? The is the second day he's been absent. I hope nothing happened to him. I looked at Sasuke and noticed that he seemed off, as if his mind was elsewhere. He looked ashamed of something. I wonder if had anything to do with Naruto. I resolved to ask him about it.

After class

"Um, Sasuke, do you know what happened t Naruto," I asked him as he was packing his stuff.

Sasuke froze when I asked him, and tightened his fist.

"I don't know," he said, shaking.

"But you're his best friend. Why don't you?" I retorted.

"I'm not worthy enough to be called that anymore," he said, walking away without giving me a second glance, "Not after what I did."

The way he said it, it made it seem as if he did something horrible. I was unable to retain my composure.

"What'd you do to him?!?" I demanded.

"You liked him, didn't you?" he asked, without turning to face me.

"That's beside the point!"

"My parents told me I shouldn't hang out with him anymore. Like an idiot, I listened. I only realized that when my brother told me, 'You should always keep your friends close. At times like these, you don't know what'll happen. Just because mom and dad said you should avoid him, doesn't mean you have to listen.' I was planning on apologizing to him yesterday, but he wasn't here. I asked Iruka-sensei if he knew anything."

"What'd he say?" I said, hoping it was good news. The way things were turning though, it didn't seem like it would.

"I'm sorry Hinata. Naruto left the village. No one knows where he went. All I know is he's gone, and he's probably not coming back."

I collapsed onto floor as tears clouded my vision. I watched as the blurred image of Sasuke walked out of the room. I sobbed to myself as I realized I might never see Naruto again.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO

"Don't worry Sarutobi-sensei, I back him completely," Jiraiya declared.

"Well, seeing as it was you who trained him, I guess he can become a ninja of the leaf, even though I don't even get to know his name. By the way, why are you so adamant about making him a shinobi of Konoha? He clearly doesn't want to," said the Hokage.

"I have my reasons. There are things he needs to sort out here before he can ever move on," Jiraiya stated seriously.

"I wonder how he's gonna do that if even I don't recognize him," the Hokage scoffed.

"Don't worry, sooner or later, you all will."

Outside in the streets

"I don't understand why I have to return here. I see no real point in becoming a shinobi of this place. It'll just hold me back," said a voice from the shadow of the alleyway.

"I told, there is a reason for you coming here. But you'll have to find out for yourself."

"Fine," said the voice. From the alleyway, a short figure stepped out from the shadows. The figure wore an open dark orange robe which was adorned with black flames along the bottom of the robe and the ends of the sleeves which ended at the figure's elbow. Underneath the robes, he wore black hakama pants (samurai pants) and a white sleeveless shirt tucked into the pants. He wore the black sandals of a ninja, and adorning his waist were two small scrolls on his right side, and a katana on his left. The katana's sheath was black while the leather adorning the long handle was blood red, accompanied by a gold tassel and handguard. The locks of his hair were a deep gold, tipped with red, and the bangs were supported from underneath by a blank white mask, with nothing but two painted slits placed where his eyes would be.

"Here," Jiraiya said, tossing the masked boy a Konoha hitai-ate.

"Blue?" the boy asked, disappointed, "This won't do." The boy grabbed the fabric of the hitai-ate and the fabric began turning black, spreading from the point he held it. He tied the ends of the fabric together, and placed it around his neck.

"I really don't like this," he said, still not happy about his current situation while poking the hitai-ate.

"Just hurry up and go to the Academy. Just go-"

"Don't worry Ero-Sennin, I know the way," the mysterious boy said, waving his arm, shooing Jiraiya to go do whatever. Jiraiya smirked and proceeded in the direction of the hot springs.

Academy

"Who is that?"

"I've never seen him before."

"He looks cool."

"I could probably beat him."

The whispers continued as the boy sat at the back of the class in the seat next to the window. He rested his cheek, or at least where his cheek be if he wore no mask, on his hand, as he looked out the window. When a figure sat next to him, he did not stir.

"I've never seen you before," said the figure beside him.

"No, you haven't," was all that was said back to Uchiha Sasuke.

"Che," Sasuke scoffed.

"HI SASUKE-KUN!"screamed most of the girls in the class. None of them peaked any interest from the masked boy, but one stood out from the population of girls in the class to him. This particular one didn't seem to have any interest (at least romantic) in Sasuke. Walking through the lower entrance, the girl wore tight black pants that ended at the middle of her calves. She also wore a skin tight sleeveless v-neck that showed her developing figure, not hiding her well developed chest and showed the lower half of her lean stomach. Underneath the shirt, she wore fishnet that reached her neckline and her waist, and had sleeves that reached midway down her biceps. Her forearms were wrapped in bandages that alternated black and white. Around her waist, she wore a black hitai-ate, with the metal part above her left thigh, and on each side of her waist, there hung a foot long dagger with handles barely big enough for her hands. Her long silky midnight black hair reached to her mid back, with her left bangs tucked behind her ear, and her right ones partially shadowing her right eye. But what really caught the boy's attention was the fact that those eyes of hers were white.

"Hinata," the boy whispered inaudibly, especially to Sasuke, who currently had the majority of females in the class yelling fangirl screams into his ear. Sasuke did notice though that the unknown boy had perked up at the sight of Hinata.

"Don't even try, she's turned down every date she's ever been asked on. Anyone who tried more than once got a beating," Sasuke explained, as Hinata walked up the aisle.

"You one of them?" the boy asked.

"No, we're only friends, but I have had to hold her back from killing some of the more persistent ones," he joked.

"Yo," she said, sticking two fingers up, signaling Sasuke as she sat in the row in front of them.

"Yo," he responded, both of them tuning the voices of the fangirls as if it were second nature.

She leaned back in her chair, bending her head backwards, looking up at Sasuke to initiate a conversation. The boy noticed that if a guy were to try, he could look down at the girl's cleavage from this row. But all the boy could look at was her face, and all he could think was how pretty she looked. She noticed him staring, and took it for him being a perv.

"Hey you, mysterious mask guy, you trying to get a peek at my jugs?!?!" she asked blatantly.

"No, just admiring your pretty face. Sorry," he said in a happy yet sad tone, casually turning away to look at the sky. The way he said it caused her to blush a little, which did not go unnoticed by Sasuke, which caused him to chuckle a little. She gave him a quick glare.

"Oy! I was talking to you! What kinda guy goes around goes talking to people and then turns around unexpectedly?" Hinata asked rather loudly. She went ignored.

"I think he's gone," Sasuke suggested, "Maybe he's sleeping underneath that mask."

"HEY MASK BOY WAKE UP!" Hinata yelled, rising herself to Sasuke's row's level.

"Hinata, please sit down," Iruka said, walking in.

"As you know, all of you have passed the Genin exam and have become official shinobi of Konoha!"

"Uh sensei! That guy in the mask didn't take the test but he's got a hitai-ate! I've never seen him before!"

"Well, if you are recognized by a high standing ninja or the Hokage, you can become a ninja without taking the class!" Iruka explained.

"What?!?" came from a majority of the class.

"I did all this for nothing?" cried one.

"Well, to be recognized official, you have to be exceptionally talented. Right now, the new kid would have to be at least around Hinata's or Sasuke's level," Iruka said, calming the class down, but also causing several to stare at him, wondering how strong he was.

"Well, if there are no more questions, we'll begin announcing the teams!"

Several Minutes Later

"Team Seven! Haruno Sakura! Uchiha Sasuke!"

"Yes!" yelled Sakura as Sasuke just bowed his head in grief.

"And, huh? Uh, guy with mask and orange clothes!"

Everyone sweatdropped at this.

"Hey, we don't even know his name?"

"No, it's just I don't want people to know it. It's my choice, so don't push the matter," the masked boy said, breaking away from his daydream. Hinata turned to look at him in curiosity. He reminded her of someone, his slightly familiar voice, his color coordination. Her face flashed a sad and painful look and she shook it from her head.

_No, it's not him, it can't be._

"Just continue," the boy said, waving his hand.

The teams continued to be called, with Hinata being grouped with Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino in Team 8, and Team 10 being the Ino-Shika-Cho combo.

"You will now wait for your new Jounin sensei's to pick you up! Good luck, and become the best ninja you can be!"

Several hours Later

"Argh! Where's our sensei?!" whined Sakura.

"What kind of person arrives this late? I doubt he'd forget," Sasuke said.

"You know, you could just be patient," the masked boy said for the first time since he stated he didn't want his name to be know, not breaking his stare at the sky.

"Ugh, well, will you at least tell us, your TEAMMATES, your name?" Sakura asked.

"No, but if you wanna call me something, you can call me Kitsune," he said.

"Kitsune? That's a weird name," Sasuke commented.

"It's a codename, it's what I used when I went on missions with my sensei," Kitsune said.

"Wait, you've been on missions already?" Sakura asked surprised.

"Nothing major, just minor assassinations, low class renegade ninja," Kitsune commented, thinking it wasn't a big deal.

"Assasinations? Renegades? Those are at least High C-Class Missions!" exclaimed Sasuke.

"High C-Class, isn't C-Class the lowest there is?"

The two shinobi were dumbfounded at their surprising teammate. They were about to prod him further but were stopped by a sound from the door.

"Yo," said Kakashi, who was leaning on the doorway, "Meet me on the roof." Kakashi proceeded to vanish in a cloud of smoke.

"Who was that?" Sakura asked.

"I think that was our sensei," Sasuke stated uncertainly. Suddenly, they heard a poof behind them, causing them to turn around. Where Kitsune had previously been, there hung a cloud of white smoke.

"Where'd he go?" they exclaimed together.

On the Roof

"You sure are fast," Kakashi said, crouching on the end of the building. Kitsune sat there motionless, his slits staring straight forward.

"You sure do talk a lot,"Kakashi said sarcastically. Kitsune still was unfazed. Kakashi huffed, thinking he got a silent type.

"Huh? Oh sorry, did you say something?" Kitsune asked, "I was looking at that bird over there."

Kakashi sweatdropped, but then noticed that the masked boy had not looked in the direction of the bird.

"How did you see it through the mask?" Kakashi asked.

"Well-"

"Oy! You don't have to just disappear like that!" cried Sakura, running towards the two, while Sasuke walked calmly, with an amused smirk on his face.

"You two did take your time. You didn't do anything naughty did you?" Kakashi asked teasingly.

Sasuke turned a bright red and tripped over himself while Sakura sat down with a sad look, mumbling, "I wish."

"Well, time to introduce yourselves! Give your name, likes, dislikes, and dreams!"

"That seems a bit too personal, for giving out stuff like that to people we barely know," Sasuke said, causing Sakura to bow her head a little, "Not that we don't know some of them though!" Sasuke's feeble attempt to be nice was enough to draw out a small smile from Sakura, causing Sasuke to sigh in relief. He didn't hate his fangirls, it's just that he would prefer if one actually tried talking like a normal person.

"Well, seeing as how we're going to be a team, I believe it would be best to strengthen our teamwork if we learned about each other," Kakashi said with a fake enthusiastic voice, "So just do it," he added darkly. His tone sent shivers done Sakura's and Sasuke's spines while Kitsune remained unfazed in his slouched position.

"Pinky, you start," Kakashi ordered.

"How about we hear from you first sensei, to see how we're supposed to do it?" Sakura asked, trying to learn something about their mysterious sensei.

"Well, my names Hatake Kakashi, I have some likes, some dislikes, and well, I can't really think of any dream right now."

Both Sakura and Sasuke were left to sweatdrop while Kitsune had no reaction.

_We learned nothing but his name,_ the two thought.

"Now back to you pinky!"

"Hi! My name is Haruno Sakura! I like, well *stares at Sasuke*, I dislike the other girls that chase after, well *stares at Sasuke again*, and my dream is well *stares at Sasuke for the third and final time*"

_Wow, her entire world revolves around that guy,_ Kakashi thought, shaking his head in disappointment.

"You, Uchiha!"

"Hn, well, my name is Uchiha Sasuke, I like hanging out with my friends I guess, I dislike several things among them being treated like a piece of meat, and I have three goals. The first is to avenge my family, the second is to find someone, someone I have to apologize to, and the third, is to be able to move on with my life after the first two are accomplished."

_Well, at least he hasn't gone down the path of revenge completely. It's surprising he wants to have a positive outlook on his life, even after __**that**__, and I wonder why a guy his age hasn't gone on many dates with that many girls throwing themselves at him,_ Kakashi thought to himself.

"Now you mask."

"……."

Everyone one stared at him, waiting for something.

"Heeeeeellloooooo……." Sakura said, waving her hand in front of him, "Kitsuneeee……."

"Kitsune is his name?" Kakshi asked her.

"He wouldn't tell us his real name, so he just told us to call him Kitsune," Sasuke explained.

"Well, I guess that's all we're gonna get from him. Well, I guess all I need to tell you now are the time and place of your final exam. 6:00 am sharp at Training Ground Seven!" Kakashi announced.

"Wait, final exam?" Sasuke asked, "I thought we were already genin!"

"Well the Genin Exam is to see who can become Genin, but the final exam, given by the appointed jounin sensei, is too see which teams are worthy of becoming official squads. The average pass rate for the final exam is 33%. By the way, don't eat breakfast tomorrow, you'll puke if you do," Kakashi explained before vanishing in a cloud of smoke. The sound of the smoke was enough to shock Kitsune, who had just let out a big snore before waking up.

"YOU WERE SLEEPING?!?" cried the conscious members of Team 7.

"What happened?" Kitsune asked in a drowsy voice.

"Well, we introduced ourselves, except for you, and Kakashi-sensei told us that we had a final exam tomorrow at 6 am sharp at Training Ground Seven," Sakura said.

"Really, oh well, see ya!"Kitsune said, disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Hey Sasuke-kun, you wanna get something to eat? Not like a date or anything, just as teammates," Sakura said, trying to hold back a blush while trying to see if such an approach would work, figuring out that he didn't want to be treated as a piece of meat.

"Sure," Sasuke said, smirking.

_At least she's trying. It's a start,_ he thought as walked passed her.

"I know a pretty good ramen place. And if you're worried about calories, they have a special diet ramen for that. You coming or what?" Sasuke said, extending a hand to Sakura.

_**If being calm like this can win his heart, I guess we can give it a try,**_ said Inner Sakura, as Sakura grasped his hand and smiled.

Training Ground Seven, 6 am

"Uhh... Why did Kakashi-sensei make us get up so early?" whined Sakura as she and Sasuke trudged down the path to the training grounds.

"No one's even here yet," Sasuke commented as they reached the training grounds.

"Might as well wait," Sakura said, taking a seat on the ground. Sasuke joined her as they began waiting. The pair slowly began to fall asleep.

4 hours later

"So Jiraiya told you not to bother coming at six?!?" cried Kakashi as Kitsune walked ahead of him.

"You're fault for constantly being late! Your tardiness will get you in trouble one day," Kitsune said as they reached the Training Ground. In the middle of the clearing, Kakashi and Naruto could see a pink and blue figure lying there. As they neared closer, they saw it was actually the two figures of Sasuke and Sakura sleeping, with Sakura's head resting on Sasuke's chest and her right leg lying on top of his legs, while he held her from behind with his left arm, and his right hand resting on her waist.

"Oh wakey wakey eggs and bacey!"yelled Kakashi. The two stirred and looked at each other realizing what they were in. A deep red blush appeared on their faces as Sakura sat up in surprise and Sasuke rolled in the opposite direction, propping himself up to glare accusatorially.

"Hey! What were you doing Sakura?!!" demanded Sasuke.

"Calm down, I believe we're here for a test aren't we?" Kitsune asked.

"Oy! What time is it and when did you two get here?" Sasuke asked.

"Uh about 10:07 and just about 5 minutes ago," Kakashi said as the three saw him pull out his infamous perverted book.

"Aw disgusting, you read Ero-Senin's pervert book?" Kitsune asked in distaste.

"Why, gotta problem with that?" Kakashi asked, attempting to be creepy.

"Yes," the three Genin stated, unfazed by his horrible attempt at being creepy.

"Well forget it, we have a test to get to!" Kakashi cried, trying to change the topic.

"You said be here at 6!" Sakura yelled furiously.

"Here are the rules," Kakashi said, ignoring Sakura, "I have two bells. The first two to get the bells pass the test, while the one who doesn't gets to go back to the academy! Also, if you do not get a bell, then you don't get lunch!"

At the mere mention of lunch, Sakura's and Sasuke's stomachs growled loudly.

"Good thing I ate breakfast," Kitsune commented, receiving two glares from the starving pair.

"If there are no questions, BEGIN!" Kakashi yelled, causing Sakura and Sasuke to jump into the trees.

"You always seem to do the exact opposite of what those two do," Kakashi said to Kitsune.

"Well, I'm just thinking of a strategy. Besides, if I don't attack before I have a plan, and you don't attack, then what's the point of attacking someone I know nothing about," Kitsune said without making any movement.

"Well sorry, but I'm not gonna make it that easy for you!" Kakashi said, running towards Kitsune, swinging a wide punch at him. Kitsune leaned back and returned to his previous stance.

"You're gonna have to do better than that," Kitsune stated as he stared at Kakashi with his blank mask.

Kitsune disappeared and reappeared behind Kakashi, swinging his right leg at Kakashi's head while he held his hands behind his back. Kakashi was barely able dodge in time. Kakashi quickly put away his smut and retaliated with an uppercut while turning around while only to have it kicked away by Kitsune in mid air, who flipped backwards and landed to face Kakashi. Kakashi flung some kunai and shuriken at Kitsune, only to have him burst into water.

_Mizu Bunshin?!?_ thought Kakashi, surprised that Kitsune was capable of solid clones, _Well, he did train under Jiraiya._

"Over here!" yelled Kitsune as he kicked his right leg in Kakashi's direction, Kitsune still holding his arms behind his back. Suddenly, Kakashi was knocked back by a tremendous wind that was concentrated in his general area that blew him into a tree.

_What the hell? _Kakashi thought as he realized that the wind had come from Kitsune's kick.

"I think I've done enough, you should fight with Sakura and Sasuke for now, seeing that you're going easy," Kitsune said, walking away.

"That sure is cocky," Kakashi said as he got up, unscathed, despite the huge wind and hitting the tree. Kakashi noticed a kunai flying towards him, and deflected it with his own, only to have a giant fireball come flying at it. Kakashi dodged it and returned to the middle of the clearing. He watched as Sakura jumped from the trees to Sasuke's side behind the destruction created by the fireball.

"Good plan, but not good enough," Kakashi said as he readied his kunai for their next move.

"No, it was perfect," Sasuke said, pointing behind Kakashi. Kakashi turned to see Kitsune, holding two bells at eye level, or at least his supposed eye level.

"I see," Kakashi said, "Who are you going to give the other bell to? Sakura or Sasuke?"

"Don't try sensei," Sakura said from behind, "While Naruto's clone was fighting you, we talked and figured that since it's three Genin and one Jounin sensei in a squad, it wouldn't make sense to eliminate one of us. So the only reasonable explanation is that you were trying to split us up, when the point is to work as a team."

"Well, I guess you pass," Kakashi said, "But because you were late Kitsune, you don't get lunch!"

"Too late," said another Kitsune to Kakashi's left, "I already stole them. We ate while you fought my clone."

"That was fast," Kakashi said, a bit depressed he didn't get to mess with them more.

"Wait, which one is the real you Kitsune?" asked Sakura.

"Neither," both Kitsune's said as one disappeared in a puff of smoke while the other burst into water.

_Kage Bunshin too?!?_ Kakashi thought, dumbfounded by the startling development AND the fact that the team had passed the test within 30 minutes.

"How'd he do that?" asked the surprised genin.

After a few moments of silence, Sakura piped up, "Sasuke, wanna get some ramen? "

"I guess," Sasuke said, stuffing his hands in his pocket. Sakura happily linked her arm with his and lead them along to lunch, not noticing that Sasuke had a slight blush on his face. Kakashi watched them disappear into the distance.

_Guess for once I'll be early for something for once,_ Kakashi thought as he brought out his naughty novel and began walking away slowly.

Ichiruka Ramen Restaurant

Sasuke and Sakura walked into the restaurant to see Teams 8 and 10 sitting down at a long table that had room for two more.

"Hey Sasuke-kun!" cried Ino from the end of the table with the two seats open, "Why don't you join us?!? You too Forehead!"

Sakura glared at Ino, but Sasuke grabbed her arm and brought her to the table and pulled out the seat next to Ino, gently pushing her into the seat. This action did not go unnoticed by the other genin.

"Oy Sasuke," yelled Kiba, "Ya finally got a girlfriend?!? 'Bout time! I was almost sure you were gay at this point!"

Sasuke politely replied with a saltshaker thrown at Kiba's head. Akamaru barked happily, clearly amused.

"You're supposed to be on my side," Kiba whined to Akamaru as Sasuke took a seat next to Hinata.

"Yo," Sasuke said to Hinata, "You guys order yet?"

"No, we just got her a minute before you. Where's that other guy?" Hinata replied.

"Yeah, I want to meat that weird mask guy," Kiba said.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru said, resting his head on his hand, looking at Kiba exasperatedly.

"Hey guys look," Choji interrupted as he pointed towards the door. Everyone turned to see the masked figure of Kitsune enter.

"Oy Kitsune, over here!" Sakura said, waving her hands in the air. Kitsune turned to leave, but was somehow stopped by Sakura.

"Oh no you don't! You're not leaving till we get more outta ya!" Sakura yelled as she threw him into a seat at the head of the table, next to her and Sasuke.

"That's funny, I don't remember that being there," Sasuke commented as Kitsune landed in the chair. Sakura instantly returned to her seat and smiled happily as Kitsune recovered from the unexpected attack. Everyone just sweatdropped, not knowing what to say about the situation.

"So, did you guys pass your test?" Hinata asked Sasuke, attempting to break the ice.

"Yeah, of course we did," Sasuke said egotistically.

"Enough about that! So Kitsune-kun, was it?" Ino asked, "I'm Ino, and these two bums are Shikamaru and Choji!"

"Oh thanks, that's sure a nice way to put it," Shikamaru said, looking over at Ino, "I think he's still a bit woozy too."

"No, I'm fine," Kitsune said, cracking his neck and making sure all his joints were still good, "And you don't need to introduce yourselves, I already know your names from the Academy."

"How's that? That was the first time you met us. And how could you remember us out of all 36 Genin there?" Kiba asked.

"I just do," Kitsune asked, assuming the same position as Shikamaru.

"Well, why did you wanna become a shinobi?" asked Hinata.

"Yeah, out of all the villages, why Konoha? And who recommended you?" Kiba added.

"Ero-sennin, better known as Jiraiya, the Toad Hermit, and my sensei, recommended me to the Hokage. I guess because he is from here, he would want me to come here. I'm just here because he said it would make me stronger, though I would much prefer some of the other villages. This one's too soft. I hate it here anyways."

"Jiraiya?!? On of the Legendary Sannin? Holy crap! You must be strong!" Kiba overreacted.

"What's wrong with the leaf?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah, we have a large population of exceptional ninja!" Choji added.

"That's because they were a breed raised during war," Kitsune explained, "But since then, Konoha has dwindled in the quality of the shinobi they produce. In other villages, just to become a genin, you have to kill."

Everyone fell silent at this, shocked by the knowledge.

"Right now, if all of you were to take on a genin team from another village, you would probably have a 75% chance of losing that battle. Unless if you have an extremely good strategist in your midst, that's the best you eight can do."

"Well good thing we have Shikamaru for that!" Choji said happily, just to grab some more chips and stuff them into his mouth.

"Well, why do you hate the Leaf?" asked Sasuke.

"You do not know me well enough for me to tell you such things," Kitsune said, getting up, "I'm leaving, I've lost my appetite."

"Me too," said Shino, saying the first thing throughout the entire conversation. The two got up and left the restaurant. Shino turned right, and Kitsune turned left. As the door closed, Shino spoke up, "Naruto, it's been a long time."

"Thanks for not saying anything Shino," Naruto said from underneath his mask, "Please don't tell anyone else. Otherwise I'd have to kill you, and I'd really want to avoid having to do that."

"That day when you left, what happened? Everyone seemed to have guilty expressions on their faces."

"You can ask them yourself, as long as you avoid revealing anything. See ya 'round Shino."

"You are going to tell them at some point, right?"

"…"


End file.
